The Papercut Murders
by Not2BForgotten
Summary: The BAU is on the case where politicians are being kidnapped, tortured and murdered when Reid gets taken. Sequel to Running Blitz. Reid whump! 2nd in the Bad Penny series.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Welcome to the Papercut Murders! In the attempt to improve my writing skills I'm trying to put more character depth and balance out the whump a little but don't be afraid! There will be plenty of whump! As always I beg for reviews.**

Chapter 1

Sweat dripped in his eyes. He took time to wipe them away when it stung. He looked around worried Morgan might have noticed but he seemed to have gotten away with it. It felt good to be running on the treadmill. To be running at all, even supervised. He was on such a tight leash now and it felt good to get a little room to move. He was tired of constantly being under guard. He was really starting to relax into it when he heard the treadmill switched to the cool down program.

"No, Morgan I can keep going, I'm fine." he complained reaching to turn it back up only to get his hand smacked.

"Reid the doctor said you had to work your way back up slowly." Morgan circled behind the treadmill and half guided half dragged Spencer off the machine.

"Snail's move faster, I'm fine, I don't feel out of strained or winded. I'm bored!" Derek chuckled getting behind him so he couldn't escape and pushed him towards the gym showers.

"You built up a sweat; you didn't do that last week, don't complain so much." Morgan shoved his gym bag at him and shoved him to the showers ignoring the over dramatic sigh.

It had been eight months since the Chaplin incident and Morgan had been put in charge of getting Reid field ready again physically. It had been difficult for him to recover. Between the heart problems and the pneumonia he'd had to stay in the hospital over a month. They'd had a few scares for heart attacks since his release which proved to be false alarms.

"Do we have a new case?" Reid asked hopeful for some change following Morgan out to the car.

"Yup, serial arsonist in Wyoming." Reid didn't comment seeing Morgan check the back seat before getting into the car. He'd been checking the back of any car ever since Chaplin.

"Good, it'll be nice getting out of headquarters. I've missed my seat on the jet." Reid prattled.

"Uh uh, you're not cleared for the field yet. You know that Reid." he slumped deeper into the chair aggravated.

"Morgan I'm fine. I can handle field work. There haven't been any weird palpitations or shortness of breath in months. I just did those twenty minutes and it was _easy._"

"Sorry kid, you remember how easy the doctor said it would to trigger more heart attacks even as good as you've been doing."

"I can do better, more, I know I can."

"I know kid, it's not a race it's a recovery. You gotta give yourself the time you need to get your heart back in shape. Didn't the doc cut back your heart medicine this week?"

"Yeah, he said he said he's keeping me on it still as a precaution but he thinks I'm okay now."

"See, improvement, just be patient." they parked at headquarters.

"I'm just tired of being useless to the team."

"Hey, listen to me. You don't have to prove yourself to any of us, you hear me?"

"Yeah, I know."

"Good, now let's get in there I'm sure Hotch has all our paperwork ready for you to work on at your desk."

"Haha, very funny." Reid was left groaning when he got to his desk and found the joke to be a reality. For all their sympathy he found a disturbing lack of reluctance to give him their paperwork to keep him busy. He joined in on the conference for the serial arsonist then reluctantly waved them farewell as they left for Wyoming. He hated this feeling of being left behind.

He went back to work dutifully sorting through all the paperwork, proofreading everyone's reports as they sent them to him. Whatever it took to keep busy and useful. He was glad when his phone rang again.

"Hey Morgan…the unsub's doing what? Hmmm, it doesn't sound like you're dealing with an arsonist in the traditional sense. He may be offering sacrifices to the fire by burning his victims. You know in many ancient cultures fire itself was worshipped as an elemental deity and…." He scowled at the phone, "He hung up on me." His stomach rumbled inspiring him to glance at the clock and grin. He pulled out his lunch already salivating at the BLT, lightly toasted, that was the main course of his lunch. He dove in to take a big bite shocked to only snap against air. He stared confused, sandwich missing.

"Is this bacon on this sandwich? Really Reid? Bacon!" Garcia held the stolen sandwich examining it disapprovingly.

"Who doesn't love bacon? And you can't have a BLt without bacon or it would be lettuce and tomato and who wants just lettuce and tomato?" he lunged to rescue his food when Garcia began pulling out all the bacon.

"In your condition you think I'm going to let you eat bacon? No sir you will not be feasting on the salty flesh of bacon today." She set down the pillaged sandwich and grabbed the rest of his lunch examining it critically.

"In my condition? I'm not in _any _condition Garcia I'm fine." She was too quick for him to snatch back the bacon.

"Sweet cheeks , you had six heart attacks and over a month in the hospital. I am _not_ going to sit back and watch that all happen again. No! I am going to make sure you keep those arteries clear and you can't stop me!" she stomped off with the food she deemed forbidden. His mouth hung open his last unspoken arguments stuck in his throat. He sank back into his chair his lunch ruined. He ate what was left to tide him over until he could sneak out and get something else and tried to push back that childish feeling. He was tired of being told how to exercise and how to eat. He checked the clock. He had time. He pulled out his laptop and logged into the online chess server.

"Are you there? I could really use a good match right now."

"You caught me on my day off, everything okay?" Reid waited eagerly for the first move to be played.

"Fine, just needed a break."

"Good, I'm glad you're good." they kept quiet for a few rounds.

"You've been practicing." Reid encouraged.

"I try to practice every night, maybe I'll beat you this time."

"No you won't, but I can see the improvement."

"So kind of you to spare me the suffering of false hope." Reid chuckled sensing the sarcasm. They played through three more games, Reid winning all of them, before he had to get back to work.

"Time for me to work again."

"Spencer thank you for the games, I know my leaving hurt you, I just really appreciate getting the chance to make amends." Reid paused to think about an answer. He never really knew how to respond to those kinds of sentiments.

"I know Dad." he chewed his lip feeling a little uncomfortable now.

"Can we play again this weekend?"

"Sure, gotta go now Dad."

"Bye Spencer, love you." Spencer logged off.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Here we go it's chapter 2! I hope you like it! I'm trying to pace myself but I just wanna whump Reid already! Aaah the woes of writing. Reviews are much desired!**

Chapter 2

Reid was in a deep sleep, dreaming something about Sigmund Freud having a political debate with Tom Baker, the fourth doctor from Dr. Who, when his phone rang. He slapped the dresser for his phone accidentally knocking it to the floor. When he rolled over to reach it he fell asleep again. This time the fourth doctor was having his political debate with the Muppet Gonzo, having defeated Freud. The phone stopped ringing then began five minutes later. This time the dream dissipated and he sucked in a deep breath waking up enough to find the phone.

"Reid, yeah….okay I'm on my way" he dropped the phone next to him then rolled yelping as he hit the floor hard. He muttered under his breath about the mattress changing dimensions in his sleep then got up to get ready. It didn't take him long to get to the kitchen, hanging in the fridge, contemplating his lunch. The urgent craving for bacon still gnawed at his core but Penelope was a vicious watchdog. An idea popped into his brilliant brain. He got a big plastic container and put a later of spinach and lettuce blend on the bottom carefully packing it against the sides then piled a thick layer of bacon bits on top added another layer of greens. He chopped up tomato, olives and a few other heart healthy vegetables then topped it with a thick layer of onion and garlic until he couldn't smell the bacon.

"Ha! That'll fool her!" He grinned prancing to the door confident he could get his bacon today his mental celebration interrupted by the crunch under his foot as he went out the door. He frowned at the box of chocolates. It was the same as he'd found last night. He picked it up finding the same cryptic note.

"For my sweet" he sighed figuring it was one of his neighbors. Most of the neighborhood was senior and a few of them were a bit senile. Mr. Simmons especially was always regaling him with his carnal escapades. He had no doubt this was another one of his romantic pursuits delivered to the wrong house. He stopped by his outside trash and tossed it in before heading into the office. He was tempted to eat the sweets but he wasn't supposed to do a lot of processed sweets. Despite what Penelope thought he was keeping to the strict diet proscribed by his doctor with very little deviation. He went straight to the crime scene which was an office building.

"Red tape for the blindfold and excessive cutting but what did he use as the weapon? I've never seen a knife make cuts these small" Reid leaned in close and circled the body curious.

"There's something in his mouth," Rossi pulled his mouth open and tugged out the object, "A pouch containing thirteen silver coins"

"Who did you say the victim was?" Spencer asked.

"Arthur Nichols, he's a politician and the rumor is he's planning on running in the next election." Hotchner flipped through his notes.

"A politician with thirteen silver coins in his mouth and red tape around his eyes; that speaks a pretty clear message" Rossi added.

"After a corrupt politician or just any politician do you think?" JJ postulated.

"Garcia will find if this guy is dirty."

"Delight me with your sweet syrupy voice."

"Hey baby girl, I need you to dig up the dirt on an Arthur Nichols."

"Easy peasy I will get back to you with the dirtiest of dirts." Morgan shook his head with a smirk the call ended.

"We know he's methodical and organized. He chose a dump site that's been closed for over a week for renovations, I don't see any signs of defensive injuries so he subdued him without a struggle and to do this many cuts he would need an enormous amount of time alone." Spencer turned his attention to the room.

"Blinded by red tape, silenced by bribes, the cause of death is certain to keep with the same theme." Hotchner mused.

"This guy is one helluva sadist to do all these cuts."

"Or patient revenge, this could speak of a lot of anger." Rossi suggested. Morgan's phone rang.

"Talk to me PG, you're on speaker phone."

"Bad news lover, I'm still working on info for Nichols but there's been another kidnapping."

"Who's missing?"

"Jaime Brians, he's another politician."

"If he stays to script we've got a week to find him" They broke off from the scene pursuing different angles of investigation before gradually working their way back to headquarters. When Reid got back to the office his stomach was growling with hunger and he turned his thoughts to his bacon laden salad. Before he could sit down and eat he had to get past Garcia's office first. He approached silently unable to see if she was in there, glancing back and forth paranoid. Feeling like an antelope on the safari he made his move.

"Reid, are you hiding something from me?" Garcia stood in the door way leering at him.

"Why would you think I'm hiding something?" he tried to play it cool.

"Don't play innocent with me, here, now." she snapped her fingers and pointed for him to stand next to her. He glanced around for an escape route considering running but he didn't think he could outrun her so he complied.

"What are you hiding?"

"Nothing." she looked him up and down and he fought to not squirm or blink under her scrutiny. He almost groaned when she yanked his bag away from him and fished out his lunch.

"Well this looks like a good salad, all the right veggies, plenty of it, especially the onion and garlic, quite aromatic, why?"

"Why is onion and garlic aromatic? Well it contains a…well, now that I think about it I've never ready anything on the subject, I should look into it after this case." he went to grab the lunch back but failed, a chill of fear going up his spine as she pulled out a fork and began to dig through the salad.

"Hmm, what's this I see Spencer, bacon hidden under all the good for you veggies? What is wrong with you? Do you want to get another heart attack and die and leave us all to suffering through eternal mourning at your loss?" she ranted shoveling the bacon out of the salad directly into a trash can.

"Garcia it's just four slices, the doctor said it was okay to have these kinds of foods every now and then and this is the first time I haven't followed the diet exactly!" She stopped and glared so fierce Reid couldn't resist a fearful step back.

"Okay? Okay? It is not okay! I love you Reid but sometimes you are just so stupid I wanna shake you till your eyes pop! Why can't you take this seriously! Here, sit down and eat this where I can watch you!" she gave back the pillaged lunch and shoved him into a chair still leering. He stared at the meal saddened, scooped out some of the excess onion and garlic before beginning. He slunk away after his meal, full but disappointed determined to win this battle and get his bacon.

"Hotch, yeah fine, can you do something about Garcia, I just want to eat a lunch without her plundering it like I'm a toddler."

"Reid I don't have time to deal with your relational problems right now, I have to focus on this case. The media has already gotten wind of it." Hotch hung up on him. He sighed and dialed JJ.

"JJ what do I do? I just want to be able to eat for myself. Does she think I can't take care of myself now? Like I'm a child?"

"Reid you have to be patient, you gave her a bad scare. She always watches us leave, put ourselves in danger and all she can do is sit back and watch, just appease her and she'll let up eventually."

"Great, I'm never going to feed myself again." he hung up with a huff. He was weighing his decision between begging Morgan or Rossi for help next when a call for Morgan came through. "Yeah Morgan?"

"Listen up kid, I'm only telling you this once. Garcia has the skills to declare you legally dead and not get caught or control your entire life without ever leaving her computer room and not get caught. Surrender it's your only hope. I know from experience you cannot win against her and I know better than to get in the middle." Reid didn't have a chance to answer. Morgan had said his peace and hung up. Someone walked by and dropped a lab report from forensics on his desk. Reid began reading and muttering to himself brain whirling with facts.

"Cause of death was exsanguination and there was paper fibres in the wounds…paper…He's bleeding them out with paper cuts?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Not much love for this story? Such sadness at no reviews. Maybe this action packed chapter will be better liked? Review and let me know!**

Chapter 3

"Three politicians, all with red tape on the eyes, silver coins stuffed in their mouths and enough paper cuts to cause them to bleed out." Hotch reviewed at the round table. He didn't miss the small shudder than went through his team. The thought of thousands of paper cuts made their skin crawl.

"He's broken off his timeline too. He's hardly keeping them two days now but the amount of cutting and ritual hasn't changed. He's probably figured out a more efficient way to create the wounds." Morgan added.

"His sadism is also increasing. The lab says they found pure lemon juice rubbed into every cut." everyone quivered again.

"Are you going to make it through this?" Hotch quipped.

"It's paper cuts and lemon juice, don't tell me that doesn't make a shiver go up your spine. When's the last time you had a paper cut?" Rossi argued.

"We need to figure out if this is rage or ritual and why he's suddenly escalating his timeline."

"Whichever he's highly organized and apparently under control despite the hastened timeline. Did anything link the victims?" Reid asked swinging back and forth in his chair.

"Well, Nichols is supposedly being financially backed by some pretty shady companies for his upcoming election, Brians had a crime committed by his son covered up, and Sooni was implicated a few years back for embezzlement but they could never prove anything." Garcia iterated.

"So he's targeting corrupt politicians rather than all politicians?"

"It would seem so."

"Well that doesn't exactly narrow the suspect pool."

"True that."

"So who's he going to take next? As far as we know he doesn't have any new victims since Sooni." The question was left hanging in the air as they worked to get all the clues before they went cold or someone else went missing. Hotch eventually sent them all home for a night's sleep to get back with fresh eyes. Reid was at his house watching JJ scamper around packing and unpacking items flustered while he stood keeping back a grin while he held Henry.

"I should stay, we're in the middle of a case and..."

"JJ go, you had this schedule weeks ahead and you know we'll call if we get stuck."

"Yeah but..."

"No, go, he's my godson and I'm keeping him hear and you are leaving, go, shoo." he grabbed the last bag from her and started pushing her to the door, "I've done extensive research in the building of living room forts and believe myself to be proficient in their construction and will pass my immense knowledge on to Henry." he decided not to be offended by the slight cackling laugh. He watched until she drove away then went back inside.

"Okay Henry, what do you want to do now? Are you hungry?"

"Food!" he nodded emphatically.

"Alright, now I know your mom normally has you eat vegetables and good food like that but this is a slumber party and I was thinking we could eat macaroni and cheese with hot dogs in it. I've never had it myself but I hear it's delicious. Does that sound good?" Spencer grinned at the wide eyed stare Henry gave him. "Yeah let's try it."

He grabbed a bucket of the toy blocks then put them both down in the kitchen and got to cooking. He watched Henry play, the current case slipping away from his mind unnoticed, thoroughly engaged in the way the boy stacked the blocks then knocked them down only to stack them up again. He couldn't help but notice the various patterns in the way Henry stacked the blocks. He served up the macaroni and got a glass of milk for them both.

"Alright Henry, we gotta eat it all then we can build that fort, does that sound fun?"

"Uh huh, make it big as mountain!" Reid chuckled.

"We would need to go to Uncle David's mansion to make one _that_ big."

"Hot! Blow!" Henry shouted taking a bite only to jerk away again. Spencer blew on the food until Henry was satisfied. They gobbled the food hurriedly. Spencer would have to remember to thank Rossi for the dinner idea. When they got to the fort building Henry took charge and Reid was happy to let him take the lead. He couldn't describe the giddy feeling he got building this fort with Henry but he was going to keep it going as long as he could. Before he put Henry to bed he made sure to take a video of Henry showing off his fort, an epic one in Spencer's opinion, and then saying goodnight and sent it to JJ's phone. They bunked down in the fort like a camping trip. Henry fell asleep fast but Spencer mulled the case over in his mind for about an hour before drifting off himself.

"Uncle Spenner, Uncle Spenner." Reid jolted awake, eyes waving, still half asleep.

"You okay Henry?" he scrubbed his eyes.

"Gotta pee." Reid sat up finally noticing Henry's hopping from foot to foot urgently.

"Alright" He left the lights off carrying him to the bathroom. Henry hummed while he did his business and Reid waited holding his shoulder so he didn't fall in and tried to stay awake. "Done?"

"No more poo."

"Iuughk" Reid grunted. They were washing hands when a loud crash issued from the living room. Reid tucked Henry into the under the sink cupboard. "Stay here Henry, shhh." He shut off the lights blinking rapidly to get his eyes to adjust to the darkness and darted to his room silently for his gun. He felt better being armed but his mind kept darting to Henry hidden in the bathroom. He couldn't fathom how JJ did this all the time. He crept into the living room only able to see vague outlines as he worked his way to the light switch. The blow came from his left cracking down on his wrist the gun skittering away its path unseen. The intruder body slammed him but he got a grip on him and threw him away a few feet. The man came at him again landing a kick to his gut but Reid was able to retaliate hearing his nose crunch. They fought exchanging a near equal number of blows, furniture getting thrown askew as they worked their way to the kitchen. The tide turned against Reid when a close quarters blast of pepper spray hit his eyes directly. He scrambled back with a cry unable to recover as the man landed a brutal hit to the side of his head and consciousness blinked away.

It was three am when Hotch found himself suddenly awake but dulled by grogginess. He struggled to think why he was awake but he wasn't far enough along to think clearly. He sat up sucking in a deep breath when he heard the crying. He pulled on his robe and went to tend Jack but he was sleeping soundly. He got his gun and went through the house room by room but the source of the crying was at his front door. He peered out the peep hole but he didn't see anyone. Cautiously he opened the door heart leaping into his throat.

"Henry?" he was standing on the stoop wearing a toddler harness, the leash tied to the rail lining his porch, fat tears rolling down his cheeks. A quick scanned proved they were alone as he carried Henry into the house wrapping him in a blanket to warm him up still holding him and go his phone.

"Rossi, I need you to get to Reid's house, find out what's going on, call Morgan too, he lives close by…because someone left Henry on my porch."

Morgan and Rossi approached the house silently with guns at the ready. The street was abandon and quiet except for them. From here they didn't see anything suspicious but they knew better. Reid would never just leave Henry alone on Hotch's porch. They got to the front door finding it ajar, having been kicked open.

"You smell that?" Morgan murmured.

"Pepper spray, a lot of it." their eyes were starting to water.

"He doesn't carry pepper spray." he scanned the room realizing what was wrong with the living room.

"You see this furniture, it's not just pushed out of the way for the fort, more like someone picked up after a fight?" they had cleared the house finding it empty and were examining the scene while the rest of the team raced over. "Cutlery is gone, except the spoons."

"Nope, they're on top of the fridge, and all the cleaning products and medications are on the second highest shelves. I bet Reid did that because Henry was coming over. I've got blood over here, not much though"

"I've got Reid's gun. He didn't get any shots off." Morgan declared. "So the unsub breaks in but Reid had some warning because he got his gun. The unsub attacks and Reid fights back, hard by the looks of it, he gets pepper sprayed and eventually subdued, but the unsub drops Henry off at Hotch's?"

"Fits the evidence" they heard the sirens a few streets away. "And I think I just found a clue as to who did this" Ross moved into Morgan's line of sight again using a pen to hold up the roll of red tape.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Here we go! Another chapter! Thanks so much for all the lovely reviews and please send more!**

Chapter 4

Will sat on the hotel bed with a plate of mediocre food in his lap flipping tv channels while JJ showered. They'd arrived in time to get a good night's sleep and they got to have a slow morning before they left for her friend's wedding. The video Reid had sent with the bed sheet fort and the goodnight with kiss from Henry had helped with the separation anxiety. They didn't leave Henry often or for very long and never to go this far. It wasn't that they didn't trust Reid, they just couldn't help themselves. He stopped on the news channel so he could work on his breakfast some, not really interested.

"We're here with the latest on the murders of three politicians in Virginia. According to reports each politician has had their eyes taped over with red tape, a pouch of silver coins stuffed into their mouths."

"Louis is it true that these crimes have been dubbed the Papercut Murders? Why is that?"

"Well Jim, according to sources the killer cut these victims with paper so many times that they die of blood loss."

"Is this killer going after just politicians? Is the general public in danger?"

"At this time it appears that the victims were people that worked for the government, Arthur Nichols, Jaime Brians, Yung Sooni were all politicians and the latest victim abducted just this evening is a Dr. Spencer Reid, he worked for the FBI as a profiler." the plate of food hit the floor, food flying, Will pausing the tv with Reid's photo boldly displayed.

"Oh god, JJ! JJ!"

"Will what's wrong?" she rushed out of the bathroom disheveled heart stopping seeing Spencer's photo on the screen. Will could only stare, heart racing listening to JJ call every one of the team over and over again leaving panicked messages unable to reach any of them.

"Will get us the next flight out there, hijack something if you have to but we need to!"

"Yeah." he groped for his cell phone unable to take his eyes off the television. They swarmed about the room throwing random items into bags while Will arranged a flight and JJ fought to get ahold of the team, any of them. It wasn't even half an hour later that they were checked out and in the car on the way to the airport when someone finally picked up.

"Morgan! What the hell is going on? Where's Henry? What happened with Spence?"

"JJ slow down."

"Morgan I saw the news report where is Henry? What happened to Reid?"

"You saw a news report? Someone must have leaked to the media, damn."

"Morgan!"

"Sorry, Henry is fine, he's safe, the unsub apparently left him at Hotch's after he abducted Reid."

"What do you mean the unsub dropped him off at Hotch's?"

"From what we can tell after the unsub had Reid subdued he abducted him and left Henry on the porch where Hotch found him. But he's fine, we had him checked out and he's completely fine."

"Let me talk to him."

"I can't Hotch brought him and Jack into the office so he could work from there, they're both asleep last I knew and I'm in the field." JJ sighed heavily.

"Fine I'll see him soon, we're getting on a flight now." she hung up.

"How's Henry?"

"He's fine Will, Hotch has him at the office. This creep doesn't stand a chance when I get there." the rest of JJ's statement slipped into hushed obscenities making Will smile. He knew that when the momma-bear wrath was awakened, no one could escape JJ.

He was cold. It was the first thing he realized. The second thing was he couldn't open his eyes but they weren't blindfolded either and they burned like fire. He tried to move away from the source but it followed him. As clarity returned he recognized the stickiness of tape and the scorching scent of pepper spray. Vague flashes of the fight brought him back to current events. He tried to move discovering himself tied to a chair, his legs free. He had the sense that he was in the center of a room and he was alone. Where was Henry? He fought against the ropes ignoring the painful rasping on his wrists but they were tied too tight and too well. He felt what he could of the chair frustrated to find it was rounded denying him a sharp edge to wear down the ropes. He jumped hearing a large metal door being rolled up making him guess he was in a garage or even a storage unit.

"You're awake now, good. I can't wait to get started."

"What do you want?" he cringed his head pounding.

"I have to clean the filth from this country, cure it of the sickness." he could hear the man rummaging through things. He struggled to calm his racing heart.

"Wh-what sickness is that?" The man rushed him grabbing his chin shoving his head far back squeezing so tight he thought a tooth would pop free.

"You! You stupid government slave! You let the guilty get away with their crimes because of red tape and politics! The justice for victims gets lost and stolen away by paperwork!" he released a burst of anger in a hit to Reid's already battered ribs making him groan and curl up protectively.

"That's…not true…I've helped build…profiles of criminals that lead to their being given life or even death sentences."

"Liar! You're just like all the rest! You dirty lying weak puppet! You just bend over for a few coins!" he hit Reid again hard enough to knock the chair backwards. He lifted him upright again.

"You're wrong."

"I'm tired of your lies" Reid struggled as the man forced his mouth open, thumbs digging into the joints of his jaw until it felt like it would dislocate, shoving a cloth pouch into it. He could feel what he knew were coins moving around inside the pouch. The unsub put a thick layer of tape over his mouth before he could spit the bag. He tensed when his shirt was cut away leaving him just in his pajama shorts. Spencer braced himself mentally when the unsub began cutting.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Almost done here I hope you're enjoying! I'm working fast on the story after this after all there's those lingering background mysteries to be solved! Let me know what you think!**

Chapter 5

"Why Reid?" Rossi began. "He's no politician."

"And his background is squeaky clean, he's not corrupt, I checked, I mean it's not that I thought Reid was corrupt, I know he's our little angel do nothing wrong type, he would never do something..." Garcia rambled.

"Pump the brakes baby girl, we know."

"I know it's just that it's Reid and I hate looking into the lives of friend's because what if they find out you betrayed their privacy or worse if you found something bad because we're all human and we all make mistakes but I didn't find anything on him but what if this guy found something he thought made Reid corrupt and and..."

"What if we went too specific with our targets?" JJ interrupted, "What if it isn't just corrupt politicians this guy is targeting but anyone that works for the government he considers corrupt? It may not be that he's after corrupt officials but that he considers any government worker to be corrupt and that the first three really were, or at least implicated was just him starting with the no brainers first."

"That or he's devolving and going to take anyone now." Morgan suggested.

"We know he's organized, probably in late 30's- 40's, white male, is it rage or ritual though? What's his motive?" Rossi flipped through their file again. Garcia flashed onto the screen again.

"Good news! I got a match to the finger print pulled from the roll of red tape found at Reid's house. It belongs to a Mr. Peter Chadwick, age 37, he's a criminal court judge, he was married and oooh..."

"What is it Garcia?" Hotch urged her along.

"His wife, Louis Armstrong was a politician, rising in the power ranks fast too, when she was indicted for accepting bribes, covering up some shady legal activities of her supporters and other corrupity stuff. After the news went public Chadwick lost his seat as a court judge and all of his cases are being reviewed, looks like a lot of criminals are going to get a chance at repeal and many have already been released on the basis of a mistrial."

"Well that would definitely be the stressor."

"There's more, apparently Chadwick's wife committed suicide under suspicious circumstances last week. The police did a cursory investigation of Chadwick, their main suspect, but had to drop it due to insufficient evidence."

"He's doing this alone, he doesn't fit the profile for any partners."

"I can confirm, apparently anyone that knew him has cut ties with him the minute the scandal with his wife was revealed, this guy is a-lone."

"Garcia does he have any properties?"

"Uhh, looks like when he and his wife separated she lawyered up and got to keep the house, he's living in one of those all cash no questions apartments and has a storage unit rented out, addresses sent now! Go bring my baby genius back!" When they got to the apartment they were struck by just how far the guy had fallen. His wife's home had been large, fancy, spacious and cleaned twice a week by a service. This place in contrast was a dump. Everything was dirty, tagged by gangs and in disrepair. It was a three story apartment building, the outdoor lighting all shattered.

"Ugh that smell." JJ covered her nose with her elbow as they went through the alley to his third story apartment the stench of urine and feces overwhelming. They used the master key coerced from the manager then entered guns at the ready. Being a studio apartment they knew instantly it was clear.

"This is a stressor if I ever saw, from a mansion to the worst dump of a studio I've ever seen, water doesn't even work" Morgan mentioned trying the faucet.

"Hey look at this, divorce papers he sent to his wife with his signature. She sent them back with a note, not a chance bitch" JJ tapped the papers spread on the only table in the apartment.

"Eesh, this guy was decimated by that woman, no wonder he's turned into a serial killer."

"He's clearly not been here in weeks, food in the fridge is rotten, trash is…well you would smell it if the sewage wasn't so bad."

"Well this is interesting." Morgan fished out two squares of cardboard that were cut out from a larger box with the handholds still intact and glued together with several strips of paper sealed between them stiffened to remain straight and stiff. "He practiced making a weapon for the paper cuts."

"Take a look at this He planned his targets ahead of time." JJ went to the table with the file folder labeled government swine, spreading out the printouts. "He's got hundreds of targets here."

"Red x's through the deceased victims, and look at this, he's got Reid's printout."

"He's got them sorted too, the three politicians he killed that he's got corrupt written on the back but on Reid's he's got government dog. He definitely knows not all his victims are corrupt." Morgan's cell phone rang.

"Yeah? Alright, no he's not here either but plenty of evidence to bury him in court, we've got a file with planned hits, yeah, see you back at the office" Derek hung up, "Chadwick's storage unit was clean, just more of his stuff, it looks like he hasn't been in there since his wife kicked him out and he rented it."

"Well if he isn't here, and he isn't there then where is he?"

He was alone again and for that he was thankful. His legs jumped and twitched from the pain that burned through them no matter how hard he tried to keep them still. He knew it was midday now given the suffocating heat, sweat dripping from his body worsening the stinging from his cuts. A single drop of sweat was dangling from a corner of the tape driving him mad making him scrunch and wiggle his face to dislodge it when he realized the tape itself was moving. The sweat must have weakened the glue. He hurriedly leaned to scrub the side of his face against his shoulder making small successes at peeling it back ignoring the burning reignited in his scalded skin. He didn't know how long it took him, but he was exhausted by the effort, when he finally got his right eye uncovered. It hurt to open his eye, swollen and singed, his vision blurry at first. When he could see clear enough there was light spilling in from the loosely sealed roll up door. He recognized he was in a storage unit and the more he looked around he knew exactly where he was being held. A blast of light sent a shriveling pain through his head the unit door rolled up abruptly, his captor returned. The door slammed shut again.

"What the hell? You little!" He had no time to brace himself as the chair was kicked over followed by repeated blows to his gut and chest leaving him wheezing desperately after the brief but vicious attack. He hadn't recovered when Chadwick lifted him upright by his hair. Reid lashed out seeing his opportunity wrapping both his legs around Chadwick's left at the knee he yanked forward hard as he could, the man crashing to the ground, then twisting hard enough that his own chair overturned the loud snap reverberating in the unit. Reid lost his grip and Chadwick rolled away groaning. He huffed with rage getting back to his feet with a struggle careful to only get close to his captive from behind as he sat him up again roping his ankles to the chair nearly cutting off the circulation then re-taped his eyes. Spencer braced himself for the repercussions imagining his team to suddenly bust in for a last minute to save him. He cried out in pain and surprise at the first cut from the unexpected knife. There was no cooling off moment as Chadwick was overwhelmed by anger slicing him again and again, the pain blending together. In moments his head lolled too groggy and weak from blood loss until Chadwick reached his peak jamming the black deep into his shoulder wedging right through the joint making him scream then pass out to the sound of laughter.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! We've got one more chapter after this and then it's on to the next story which I'm sadly still working on but making good progress!**

Chapter 6

He drifted in and out, shaking with cold, his semi-conscious mind confused by the extreme heat at one moment and sharp cold the next. He let his head hang backwards too tired to pull it forward into a more comfortable position. The over powering smell of lemon made him sick combined with the burning sensation filling his every cut it had been ground into with granules of what he was sure was salt. He'd ignited some serious anger by fighting back and unleashed a whole new level of sadism for this man. Given the sound of the snap and the heavy limping he heard since he was confident he either broke the man's leg or dislocated the knee. He startled and groaned at the door opening again his captor returned. He seemed agitated Reid thought. He kept muttering about running out of time, that he had to make it good. Spencer felt a spark of excitement. If he was running out of time it was because the team was getting close. He yelped when the tape was ripped from his eyes, taking some seared skin with it. Chadwick tangled a hand into his hair yanking his head as far back as it could go then forced both his swollen eyes open. He couldn't hold back the scream at the long, point blank blast of pepper spray first in the right then the left eye. He couldn't stop himself from rolling his head back and forth, jerking against his restraints, desperate and incapable to escape the pain.

"Hmmm, I wonder" he heard Chadwick move around to in front of him again. He dug his thumb into one of the larger gash wounds made by the knife, breaking open the new scabbing until it bled lightly. Reid took a steadying breath thinking he was done when a shot of pepper spray flooded the reopened wound the electrifying pain making his toes curl. "MMM" Spencer gasped and groaned as Chadwick filled all the knife wounds with the pepper spray the unstoppable tears only making the pain worse as it spread the chemical.

"No…No" he tried to protest through the coin pouch and tape and dodge failing as Chadwick put a fresh thick layer of tape over his eyes the glue and spray blending and burning worse than before. He sank deeper into the seat losing his strength to fight as Chadwick began again with the knife, careful, slow, far from any dangerous arteries, drawing out his pain.

"We've got a problem my sugar plums!" Garcia announced making them all jump as she popped up on the screen breaking a heavy silence.

"What's wrong baby girl?" Morgan took a big gulp of his coffee knowing he'd need it.

"Three more bodies were just found matching Chadwick's murders but they're a bit different"

"How so?" Hotch found himself reaching for his coffee too. They all needed sleep but refused to stop until they found Reid.

"Well they all had the paper cuts and the red tape and the coins and all that stuff but some of them had knife wounds. There's signs of beatings and one other thing..iiighhh" she groaned.

"Penelope" Morgan chimed trying to urge her passed her squeamish sticking point.

"Their hearts were carved out."

"Why weren't they found until now? Are they more recent or older than Sooni?"

"More recent, the oldest died three days after Sooni, the second and third died the same day, which was two days after the first."

"Where were they found? Obviously not in his usual dump site." JJ continued.

"They were found locked inside their own storage units. None were climate controlled and got complaints about suspicious activity, and smells, going in and out of the unit. Other renters thought there might be a prostitution ring being held in the unit so they popped the units and found the bodies."

"Does Reid have a storage unit? Chances are if he does that's where they are."

"Bingo Dingo Reid has a storage unit, shooting you the address now! Bring my baby genius back!"

"Get started on baking your cookies PG cause we'll have him back before they're hot out of the oven." It was hardly a fifteen minute drive to the facility. They surrounded each side of the roll up door. They could hear muffled sounds inside. Rossi and Hotchner took each side of the door and flung it open then rushed in with Morgan and JJ following close behind them.

"FBI! DROP THE KNIFE!" They aimed their guns working around a small wall of books that shielded Reid from the general view of foot traffic. Chadwick dove behind Reid, tied to a chair, yanking his head back by his hair and pressed the knife to his throat.

"Back off or he's dead!" He shook Reid hard eliciting a weak moan. Morgan gave a low growl taking in the blood covering his friend and the way the skin around his taped up eyes was swollen and blistered along with all the large gashes on his chest that he could see. The smell of pepper spray was intense making their flesh sting.

"Do anything else to him and you're dead." Derek snarled.

"Morgan" Hotchner reprimanded.

"Mr. Chadwick just put the knife down, it's over, the only way out of here is to let him go." Rossi negotiated inching a bit closer.

"No! You are the enemy! He is the enemy! You're all government dogs! The bitch to its bureaucracy! You must be cut out like a cancer! Remove the filth from the system!" he bellowed pulling hard on Reid's head and digging the knife into his neck a thin red line of blood blooming from its edge.

"We are not your enemy Chadwick. What your wife did was wrong, we understand that you lost everything because of her."

"No! No! Those that work for the government are a disease that is rotting the justice system to the core!" he continuously shifted the blade anxious drawing more blood.

"Let him go Chadwick, he's never done anything to hurt you."

"Lies! He's part of the disease! He helps the infection to spread!" He turned the point of the knife to the side of his neck digging in the tip starting a rivulet of blood.

"Look at him Chadwick, just stop and _look_ at him. Twenty four, twenty five years old he isn't part of any disease, he's just a kid." Rossi was a bit surprised and relieved when Chadwick actually looked down at his hostage manipulating his head so he could see his face better. "But you've taught him something, think about it, he's learned about the dangers of corruption now, he knows what it looks like and he can carry on your mission against the disease, but only if you let him go."

"But…he's…he's corrupt!" Chadwick spat clearly wavering in confusion.

"No he's not, you _know_ he isn't corrupt. You didn't write it on your files. You labeled the corrupt and his printout wasn't among them." Rossi took a few steps forward just a few feet from the pair now but careful not to cut off anyone's line of sight. "Don't punish him for the corruption your wife caused. Don't become like her and make the innocent suffer the wrongs of the corrupt." Chadwick cracked with a sob letting the knife drop harmlessly to the floor. Morgan rushed to Reid, Hotchner and Rossi cuffing Chadwick while JJ held back calling for an ambulance.

"Reid, sit tight I'm gonna get that off of you." Morgan knelt in front of his disturbingly motionless friend peeling the tape from his mouth first and tossing the money pouch some distance, allowing him a moment to cough dryly. It was much harder to remove the tape from his eyes with the scalding and swelling; making him whimper more than once. "Sorry, almost done" Once the tape was removed, tossed viciously as far as he could get it, then worked on the ropes which didn't take long at all.

"How you doin kid?" Rossi rejoined them. Reid didn't answer but nodded sluggishly.

"Alright Reid, you think you can walk to the car? We need to get you away from all this pepper spray in the air."

"Y-yeah" he rasped sounding too weak for Morgan's liking. Rossi hovered on the opposite side giving Derek the lead as he lifted the kid from the chair, supporting him as he swayed.

"You good?" Spencer nodded licking his lips trying to relieve the dried cracking and failed. He took the first step and his legs instantly buckled under him, Rossi surging forward to assist catching him. He felt the two men lift nearly three quarters of his weight and begin again this time getting him all the way outside. He shivered in the cold pre-dawn air.

"I've got some water, let's rinse some of that pepper spray and lemon off of him" JJ suggested. The ambulance was going to be about fifteen minutes as it had to get around a bad traffic accident.

"That's good thinking" Rossi and Morgan supported Reid while JJ tipped his head back, doing what she good to open each eye as best she could. Hotch stood off to the side guarding his prisoner, sobbing in the back seat, feeling his anger rising higher with every cry Reid issued during the process. Any sympathy he had for Chadwick, not that he condoned his actions, was out the window. He could hear Reid suddenly ask about Henry in a panic and despite JJ's reassurance he was fine it wasn't until she called and let Henry talk on the phone that he calmed down accepting the toddler's safety. By the time he passed Chadwick off to a black and white Reid was wrapped in a blanket sitting sideways in the backseat of an SUV his feet hanging out the car door.

"Reid" he jolted not having noticed he'd fallen asleep. The water had helped his eyes but it was still near impossible to see. He could feel Morgan's intense protective presence to his right and by the sounds of it Hotch was right in front of him. He shivered a little the blanket helping but he still felt a seeping cold in his joints. "Reid, are you alright?" he didn't resist as Hotch held his chin turning his head this way, the worry pouring off him tangible.

"M'fine" he mumbled putting his head back on the seat drifting into sleep again as soon as Hotch let him go.

"Reid you need to stay awake, the ambulance is almost here." he felt someone put a hand on his neck, reveling in the excessive heat of it compared to him, giving him a light shake.

"Tired" the argument was weak and he never heard the reply. He woke with a start not so long later disoriented and confused. He'd been moved but he didn't register he was on a stretcher. He felt something on his face hissing loudly and panicked remembering the pepper spray and knocked it away. People around him scrambled their voices, he didn't recognize, swirled around him fueling his panic and confusion until one cut through he did know.

"Reid, Reid relax, it's just the paramedics."

"Morgan?" he struggled through lethargy to catch up on reality. He had a sense of being up higher now but he was laying nearly flat and realized he was being rolled to the ambulance. He could feel the iv in his arm not that he thought about it. Someone replaced the oxygen mask but he pushed it off again.

"Reid, cooperate." He cringed a little at Morgan's stern tone.

"Breathing fine, don't want it." they went through another round of it being put back on and him knocking it off.

"It's precautionary besides, the air is heated it's going to help warm you up, now leave it." Morgan held it in place lightly this time his friend too weak to put up any reasonable resistance.

"Fine" he fought to keep his eyes open exhaustion pulling hard.

"It's okay Reid, you can sleep now" Morgan put a hand at the top of his head, about the only spot that wasn't actively painful. Reid was hardly aware of himself leaning into the warm touch and drifting. "That's it, you can sleep now"


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Merry Christmas! This is the end for now but the next installment is coming soon! Reviews wanted!**

Chapter 7

Waking wasn't so bad this time. He felt warm but not hot and he was laying down on a soft bed instead of roped to a chair. He could sense he wasn't alone in the room but it was a comfortable, safe presence. He was content to languish in this half waking state but his body insisted on waking. He found himself in the usual hospital room he expected. What surprised him was to find Henry asleep tucked into the crook of his less damaged arm. He smiled a weight lifted from his chest. He'd had vague memories of JJ telling him that Henry was safe but he'd been so tired, so confused, he hadn't known if it was a dream or real.

"Good to see you awake finally." he shifted to sit up a bit careful not to wake Henry.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Just a few hours, how are you feeling?" JJ took Henry back draping him over her shoulder. He had to think about it for a minute.

"Like I offended a mean cheese grater." JJ laughed. "What's my prognosis? How long am I in for this time?" He closed his eyes again as the lingering burning in his face and eyes returned.

"Actually you're leaving in a few hours."

"You're kidding? Not even overnight? How did I score that?" He sat himself up a little further and chanced opening his eyes to look for jello.

"Chadwick did a lot of damage, lots of blood loss and stitches, mild concussion, the worst was your shoulder, tore the muscle and actually dislocated it but none of the damage requires surgery. They said take you home, use this special cream for the pepper spray burns, and keep you on strict bed rest for two weeks with desk duty for a few months."

"I'm never getting into the field."

"Now Reid, be a good boy and do your physical therapy they give you and you'll get out there in no time." He didn't have a chance to answer when a loud squeal shattered the conversation and Penelope came fluttering in and crush Reid with a hug until he groaned with pain.

"You're awake! You had me so worried sugar plum! Oh sorry sorry, you're probably sore aren't you, poor baby, look I made you something!" she held up a plate revealing four slices of bacon wrapped around balls of cookie dough. His face lit up with glee. Dangers aside he couldn't resist cookie dough.

"_This_ is what it takes to get a few slices of bacon?" he stuffed the first into his mouth and savored it.

"Well enjoy it cause this is the only bacon you get this month."

"As long as I don't have to go through all this again for next month's bacon I'll obey your every command."

Hotchner stood on the other side of the glass with Rossi watching Chadwick sit despondent in the interrogation room. They'd been letting him stew for a few hours now while they went over case details, checked on Reid's condition, and soothed their frayed nerves by leaving him there to fret. They were just going to get his verbal and written confession.

"Ready?"

"He's a broken man, broken men want to be heard, this shouldn't take too long" Hotch nodded in agreement. Chadwick was out of fight now that he'd been caught. "Alright let's get started Mr. Chadwick, let's go over the details of your confession. You chose to waive your right to a lawyer and you understand that this conversation will be recorded."

"Y-yes, I understand, let's just get this done" Rossi observed him for a moment. He was like a guy coming down from a night of cheating on his wife and drugs and the regret was hitting him hard.

"Let's begin then. We know these murders were premeditated, when did you start planning?"

"When I got the formal notification that I was under investigation and all my cases were under review, the next two days I spent incredibly drunk" he gave a disheartened laugh, "don't know how I didn't get alcohol poisoning, might have been better that way. When I sobered up I saw it all so clearly, how the corruption spread like an infection."

"You began your research into targets to kill the day you sobered up?"

"No, not quite, I just started researching other politicians, judges, anyone that worked for the government. It's amazing you know, how many of them are corrupt, openly corrupt, and nobody cares. That's when I decided something had to be done. The infection had to be cleansed" Rossi paused to write down some notes.

"How did you select your victims? We found the file of targets. There were over a hundred names and printouts."

"They were corrupt, filthy."

"But why Dr. Reid, he's not corrupt, he's a hard-working, dedicated young man who tries to save everyone even at the cost of himself."

"Look at him, he's what, 24 at most, considered to be among the best profilers, especially for his age, it's not natural. I saw the way he looks, dresses like a school boy, how that black agent calls him pretty boy, it's obvious he got where he is now from between the legs of powerful officials" Rossi worked hard to keep his gritted teeth unseen by Chadwick.

"And Arthur Nichols was the first man you killed correct?"

"Yes, then Brians followed by Sooni and Reid." Chadwick sipped the cup of water he'd ignored for three hours.

"Tell me about the abduction of Dr. Reid."

"I had to get rid of him he was like those pre-cancer cells you hear about that aren't dangerous until they turn into cancer if you don't cut them away. I wanted to cut away a disease before it had a chance to do harm." Even through the glass Rossi could sense Hotch's fury hearing the kid degraded like this but Rossi kept himself cool.

"What did you do once you picked Dr. Reid as your next target?" he took more notes.

"I watched him for the day, when the house lights all went out I waited another hour or so before I went inside. They're always easier to grab if they're asleep. I went in and tripped over something, don't know what I tripped over, was too dark, ruined my advantage. He came out with a gun, we fought, he got a few in, I got a few, then I pepper sprayed him and knocked him out. Tied him up and threw him in the trunk and took him to his storage unit. Started taking em to the their own units cause I figured no one would look for them there."

"Did you do anything else in the house? Take anything? Stop anywhere before you got to the storage unit?"

"No, I was eager to get started with him. It was getting harder to wait, to risk the disease spreading because I waited so I took him straight to the storage unit."

"Did you see or hear anyone in the house when you took Dr. Reid?"

"No, he was alone in the house."

"Sit tight" Rossi took his notes and went back to Hotch.

"He's not lying" Hotch began just as Garcia came scampering into the room.

"Gents and Gents we've got a problem."

"Why am I not surprised?" Rossi scoffed.

"We pulled prints from the toddler harness, one was yours Hotch but the other wasn't and we compared it to Chadwick's but, it's not a match"

"That backs up his statement that he thought Reid was alone when he took him." Rossi agreed the pair turning to Hotchner for his opinion.

"If it wasn't Chadwick than who was it?"


End file.
